John Albert Nordberg


John Albert Nordberg is an inactive Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Education and career

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Nordberg spent his professional life in the state. He studied at Carleton College and served in the United States Navy during World War II, from 1944 to 1946, as an Electronic Technician Mate Third Class. In 1950, Nordberg received a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and thereafter worked in private practice in Chicago, Illinois from 1950 to 1976. He was a Magistrate of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois from 1957 to 1964 and also worked during this period as a district attorney of Wilmette Park, Illinois from 1958 to 1976. Nordberg worked as a village attorney of Glenview, Illinois between 1961 and 1965 and held the same occupation at Morton Grove, Illinois from 1969 to 1974. He was an arbitrator for the American Bar Association from 1970 to 1975. Nordberg began serving as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois from 1976 to 1982.

Federal judicial service

On March 11, 1982, President Ronald Reagan nominated Nordberg to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that had previously been vacated by Judge Bernard Martin Decker. Nordberg's acceptance to this seat was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 20, 1982 and he received his commission on April 21, 1982. He assumed senior status on June 18, 1994. He took inactive senior status on April 21, 2014 after 32 years of service, meaning that while he remains a federal judge, he no longer hears cases or participates in the business of the court.